Bike Rides: Asheville, North Carolina

Asheville, North Carolina

From pave to hardpack, this artsy southern town offers climbs--and descents--aplenty.

kristy holland

(Photo by Patrick Cavan Brown)

It's all here Nearly every cyclist's dream ride includes challenging climbs, postcard-perfect scenery and little traffic. Asheville, at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains, has all this and more.

PEAK PERFORMANCE Warm up alongside the French Broad River before hitting grades of up to 18 percent on the 2.5-mile climb up Jeter Mountain. "It's one of our most challenging rides," says Charlie Clogston, of the Blue Ridge Bicycle Club. The 63-mile ride ascends a total of 4,652 feet, spins through the tourist hub of Brevard and finishes with 20 flat miles. Slackers can ride the Jeter Cheater, which travels many of the same roads but cuts out 1,475 feet of climbing and 1.9 miles.

LIMITED TIME ONLY Gun down the Butter Gap Trail's 4 miles of hardpack for a thrilling end to a 12-mile loop around Picklesimer Fields. Butter Gap is open to fat tires from October to April only, so ride it now. And bring a map, says local race organizer Eric Wever, of Pisgah Productions: "You could scream past an unmarked turn." (Get one at the local shop, BioWheels, 81 Coxe Ave.; biowheels.com.) Ride the fast trail counterclockwise for the best, moderately technical downhills, linking Cat Gap, Long Branch and Forest Road 471, passing a waterfall near the end of Butter Gap.

MOUNTAIN DIVIDEND What a payoff: For every mile knobby riders invest in climbing, they receive almost double the downhill return on this classic 7-mile trail in Pisgah National Forest. Start at the Trace Ridge Trailhead with a 2.5-mile ascent up Forest Road 5000, then fly down rolling singletrack shaded by hardwoods on the Trace Ridge Trail. Matt Johnson of BioWheels says he hits 36 mph on the descent.

Best of Asheville

YOU WANT: Postride Bbq DO THIS: Queue up for a Hogzilla sandwich (pork, bacon and sausage) at 12 Bones Smokehouse GET THERE: 5 Riverside Dr.; 12bones.com

YOU WANT: A Caffeine Jolt DO THIS: Order a Walt Whitman macadamia nut latte at Malaprop's Bookstore and Cafe GET THERE: 55 Haywood St.; malaprops.com

YOU WANT: To Paddle, Not Pedal DO THIS: Hit Class IV and V whitewater at Green River Narrows, or watch the pros race on Nov. 7 GET THERE: Saluda; boatingbeta.com

YOU WANT: Doughy GoodnessDO THIS: Bite into a cinnamon roll as big as your head at West End Bakery GET THERE: 757 Haywood Rd., onhaywood.com